Of course, it may be because the other
nurse weakens discipline and caters to the patient's whims; but it is
just as likely to be because she has tempered her care and her
strictness with understanding. She has grasped the patient's point of
view; and with that start, the chances are 50 per cent. more in favor of
the patient grasping and acceding to the wise nurse's point of view.
Shall we not remember that our trying, cranky, stubborn patient is a
sick person, and learn to treat that stubbornness or crankiness as a
symptom indicating her need, just as we would a rising temperature?
When we can meet her attitude with comprehension, and, if necessary,
with quietly firm disregard, then we are beginning to be good nurses.
Some of the most common of these sick reactions with which the nurse
must deal are enhanced suggestibility, repression, oversensitiveness,
stubbornness, fear, depression, and irritability. And each one demands
a different method of approach if real help is to be given.
Old Isaac Walton wrote a book many, many years ago called "The Complete
Angler.
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